Gov. Tom Corbett signs transportation bill in West Norriton

Governor Tom Corbett along with Pa. State Senator John Rafferty and other elected officials announce the new $2.3 billion transportation bill at a construction site along South Trooper Road in West Norriton Monday, Nov. 25, 2013. Photo by Gene Walsh/Times Herald Staff.

WEST NORRITON — After Gov. Tom Corbett signed the $2.3 billion transportation bill in Potters Mills, Centre County on Monday, the governor flew by airplane to ceremonially resign the expanded transportation plan for Pennsylvania outside St. Teresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church on South Trooper Road.

The location for the Montgomery County press conference was chosen because it is near the Route 422/Route 363 interchange and six-lane bridge over the Schuylkill River that is slated to be replaced in 2015 for $149 million.

This year a $16.8 million project to build two new ramps for the Route 363 (Trooper Road) and Route 422 interchange located in West Norriton and Lower Providence was started.

A construction backhoe for the project was placed in the background of the bill signing.

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With more than 100 local officials, union construction and PennDOT workers and media in attendance, Corbett said, “We’re here to celebrate in our effort to keep people safe. After a great deal of debate we have a transit bill that will help people on every work day travel. There are about 1.5 million people who ride a bus, train or subway to work. Every rider on a SEPTA vehicle means one less vehicle on the road.”

He called the bill an “investment” in transportation.

“Our elected officials put partisanship aside and, unlike Washington, we proved that by working together we can deliver and bring the quality transportation system that Pennsylvanians expect and deserve,” he said. “Smoother roads, safer bridges, reliable transit systems and efficient ports are what this bill delivers.”

“This is the path to success,” Corbett said. “There isn’t a corner of the state that will not be touched by this bill.”

Corbett thanked the former Pennsylvania governors for their work on transportation issues.

Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairman Josh Shapiro said, “The passage of this bill sends a clear message that Pennsylvania is open for business. In Montgomery County alone, we have 78 structurally deficient bridges. This investment means that we are funding a core function of government.”

Shapiro thanked the legislators who voted for the bill.

Lester Toaso, the District 6 executive director of the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT), said the $149 million replacement of the Schuylkill River bridge over Route 422 would be moved up two years with the infusion of new state transportation money.

“It is in final design now,” Toaso said. “If the funds are available we expect we will be able to start construction in late 2015. We had expected to start in 2017.”

While financing for the project is split 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funding, PennDOT can advance additional state funds for this project and replenish those funds later with federal money, Toaso said.

State Sen. John Rafferty Jr., R-Dist. 44, said, ”We were going back and forth about where to hold this event. We are going to make some changes now, because of this bill.”

Rafferty said the legislation would generate “slightly more than $1 billion” in new tax revenue in the first year, 2014, and would slowly ramp up to $1.8 billion in the fifth year.

Rafferty called the bill “a core function of government. Last year, in December, the governor announced the transportation plan. The Senate and House worked together for a $2.3 to $2.4 billion bill. You will have $1.8 billion flowing to roads and bridges. The 28 cent tax increase will not happen overnight. It is phased in over five years.”

State Rep. Tim Briggs, D-Dist. 149, said that “Democrats and Republicans came together to vote on this.”

The overall bill includes $1.3 billion annually for state road and bridge work and $237 million annually for local roads and bridges.

In Montgomery County, there are several road projects that can be advanced with engineering design work and additional federal funding in 2014 and 2015, according to Gene Blaum, the spokesman for District 6 PennDOT.

The list of potential road and bridge projects includes replacement of the Route 422 bridge over the Schuylkill River, Indian Lane, and the Schuylkill River Trail at Betzwood and replacement of the bridge carrying Route 23 over Route 422 in West Norriton and Upper Merion, $149 million; reconstruction of roadway and bridges along Route 422 from the Berks County line to the Schuylkill River in West Pottsgrove, $60 million; widening and improvements to Route 202 between Johnson Highway and Swede Road in Norristown, East Norriton, Whitpain, $60.3 million; widening and improvements to Route 202 between Swede Road and Morris Road in Whitpain, $69.7 million; widening and improvements to Route 202 between Morris Road and Swedesford Road in Whitpain, Upper Gwynedd, Lower Gwynedd townships, $67.5 million; replace three bridges on Route 63 in Upper Salford and Marlborough, $13.7 million; corridor and intersection improvements on Planks, Otts, Meyers, Seitz Roads in Skippack and Perkiomen, $16.5 million.

“We’ll have firmer time frames for these major projects as we move through the funding and engineering phases,” said Blaum.

Partial funding for the $2.3 billion transportation bill comes from the removal of a cap on the wholesale Oil Company Franchise Tax allowing it to increase from 19.2 cents per gallon to 49.7 cents per gallon. The 30.5 cent per gallon tax increase will be phased in over five years. At the same time, a 12-cent fuel use tax was eliminated.